§ Sir Teddy TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if the UN Sanctions Committee is holding back 2.25 billion dollars of humanitarian goods destined for Iraq; and if some of these holds pertained to critical items. [138767]
§ Mr. HainWhile the number and value of oil for food contracts placed on hold by the UN Iraq Sanctions Committee changes daily, in early November the value of contracts placed on hold was about $2.2 billion, of which $0.3 billion of contracts were on hold at UK request. At the same time, Iraqi bureaucracy was reported to be holding back the delivery of $1.1 billion worth of goods already approved by the Sanctions Committee. Where we place holds on contracts we do so mostly temporarily, because of concerns about the goods possible use in Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction programmes or because of a lack of (often basic) information about goods which might be of concern.
Since the oil for food programme began in December 1996, almost $16 billion worth of contracts have been approved, including $8.1 billion of food, $1.4 billion of health and $1.1 billion of oil spare parts. Through Security Council resolutions we have introduced a fast-track system for contracts in key humanitarian and infrastructure sectors. To date more than $2 billion worth of goods have been processed in this way.